It is well-known to use the principle of midstream urine sample collection as the recommended procedure when testing for urinary tract conditions. The primary basis for using this procedure is because of recognition and understanding of health care professionals that the initial flow of urine from a patient almost always contains a significant level of bacteria. In particular, the initial flow of urine contains bacteria from the flow of urine through the urethral entrance as well as the urethra itself.
As a result, health care professionals try to avoid collecting the initial flow of urine to thereby exclude much of the bacteria from the sample to avoid interfering with the test that is conducted on the sample. Usually the current practice in collecting a midstream sample involves instructing the patient to clean the meatus with soap and water and then begin urination and, after a short time, to place a cup within the urine flow to collect a urine sample which can be tested for urinary tract infections. Once the sample is collected it is then tested by sending the sample to a laboratory for culture and sensitivity (requiring the user to refrigerate the sample until it can be taken to a lab for testing or obtaining the specimen at the healthcare professional's office/clinic). Current dip stick measurement and testing of urine by the healthcare professional or user (effectively trained by the healthcare professional) measures urine characteristics (such as pH, dextrose, osmolality) but does not indicate a presence or absence of a urinary tract infection.
While this current practice works, some of the issues posed by this practice have rendered it far less than ideal. More specifically, this practice is recognized by many health care professionals and patients alike as being problematic in that it is inconvenient, since the specimen must be taken to a lab if obtained at home or needs to be obtained in an office/clinic setting, requires a procedure that is subject to error (timing of collecting the specimen, amount of urine collected, possible contamination of collection container and therefore specimen contamination), and it requires significant mobility and dexterity on behalf of the patient. As a result, it is desirable to have a device and collection method which results in obtaining an exact midstream and sterile specimen that could easily be tested.